Organismal view of a plant and a plant cell

Cell walls are at the basis of a structural, four-dimensional framework of plant form and growth time. Recent rapid progress of cell wall research has led to the situation where the old, long-lasting juxtaposition: "living" p rotoplast -"dead" cell wall, had to be dropped. Various attempts of re-inte rpretation cast, however, some doubts over the very nature of plant cell an d the status of the walls within such a cell. Following a comparison of exo cellular matrices of plants and animals, their position in relation to cell s and organisms is analysed. A multitude of perspectives of the biological organisation of living beings is presented with particular attention paid t o the cellular and organismal theories. Basic tenets and resulting corollar ies of both theories are compared, and evolutionary and developmental impli cations are considered. Based on these data, "The Plant Body" - an organism al concept of plants and plant cells is described.